It comes as paramedics this week report being sent on a “code one” to a cold and flu case because a woman reported she was not breathing properly and follows the Gold Coast University Hospital emergency department being at capacity on Monday night.

“If you don’t go code one to a job at the moment it’s almost rare,” a paramedic said. “These patients don’t need the hospital – they need social work or they need a ride to their GP.”

Gold Coast Health board chairman Ian Langdon said while $12 million had been invested in new emergency services at the Parklands facility when it opened in September, some people were slowing down the system.

“Really the plea is for people who can go to their GP to go to their GP and not rely on the ED as a substitute,” Mr Langdon said. “There’s no doubt people turn up at the ED who don’t need to go and it does slow down the system.

“People perceive there’s a problem there but it’s not because of resources or lack of staff.”

The workload for urgent cases across the Gold Coast Local Ambulance Service Network has increased seven per cent in the last year.

Network assistant commissioner Dee Taylor-Dutton said the service was responding to an average of 242 urgent and non-urgent cases a day. She said the new unit, to start on July 21, followed the success of a trial in Brisbane that saw a decrease in patients needing to go to EDs.

“It’s a better way of doing business and it frees us up for those urgent cases that cost a lot more than one paramedic in a sedan,” Ms Taylor-Dutton said.

“This program is expected to enhance patient care by ensuring our patients access the most appropriate care pathway for their needs.”

Australian Paramedic Association Queensland president Prebs Sathiaseelan said the workload was too high for the amount of staff on the Coast at the moment.

“I think there needs to be a campaign to educate the public as to when they should call an ambulance,” he said.

Emergency department senior staff specialist Dr Michael Aitkin said doctors had daily meetings with the ambulance service to work out what beds were available at each hospital.